It is May 2018, Is Your Website Mobile-Friendly Yet?

Whether your website is mobile-friendly (works well on all mobile device types and screen sizes) or not mobile-friendly, has a huge impact on how your website shows up in the Google Mobile First Search Index.

Since April 2015, it has been widely known that when users search from a mobile device, websites that are not mobile-friendly have been lowered in Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).

Now we leap forward to 2018 and not mobile-friendly sites are completely eliminated from the search results on mobile devices. Users will be searching for goods and services using the only option available on mobile devices the Google’s Mobile First Index.

Starting in April 2015, Google Search started expanding its use of mobile-friendliness as a way to rank sites, giving priority to mobile-friendly websites. This change affected mobile searches in all languages worldwide and now has a significant impact on how users view search results on their mobile devices when using Google’s Mobile First Index today.

After all of the old and outdated not mobile-friendly websites are removed from the search results, users will now only find websites that offer a mobile-friendly experience and the relevant businesses closest to their location.

How can I test my website to see if it’s mobile friendly?

The Google Search Console's Mobile-Friendly Test Tool is a quick, easy way to test whether a page on your site is mobile-friendly.

This test actually will tell you how Googlebot Mobile Smartbot sees your website and how your users see it.

It is simple…You add your website’s domain URL in the white form field and click the orange “Run Test” button. And then you will see the following…

If your website passes the test, you will see a green message that says! “Page is mobile-friendly“.

In the event that your website does not pass, the message will be red and say “Page is not mobile-friendly”.

This means your website is most likely not showing up in the Mobile First Index. This oversite on your part results in all of your local competitor's websites showing up near their location since you cannot be found because your website is old and outdated. By old and outdated, I mean any site that is built before 2014 is most likely not a mobile-friendly website. The further back you go the worse off your website is because the technology used today was not available when your website was built. Your old websites were built for a desktop/laptop users.

Not only is this critical for your business it is critical for your Local SEO

Thinking about your site’s visitor that is on your website (using a mobile device). The old and outdated desktop version of your site is difficult to view and use on a mobile device. The version that's not mobile-friendly requires the user to pinch or zoom in order to read the content. Users find this a frustrating experience and are likely to abandon the site. Alternatively, the mobile-friendly version is readable and immediately usable.

Mobile is critical to your business and will continue to be so – whether you’re blogging about your favorite sports team, a local restaurant, working on the website for your community theater or selling products to potential clients. Making sure visitors have a good experience on your site when they’re visiting from their mobile devices should be your #1 priority going forward!

In the USA, 94% of people with smartphones search for local information on their phones.

Interestingly, 77% of mobile searches occur at home or at workplaces where desktop computers are likely to be present.

If your website is not mobile-friendly yet you need to contact us right away!

Fill out our easy online questionnaire and we will schedule a free consultation to discuss your options for an affordable mobile-friendly website that is optimized for local mobile search results and 100% compatible with Google Mobile First Index.